#Japan automakers eye rules on parts-buying #NewsQuake

A worker at Japan's Toyota Motor assembling a car at the company's plant in Miyata City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Major automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Honda have begun discussions over how to share the available supply of car parts. -- PHOTO: AFP TOKYO - MAJOR automobile manufacturers have started formulating self-imposed rules over parts purchases to avoid a frantic scramble among firms competing for essential components amid expected shortages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The cooperation was sparked by the anticipation of a serious lack of semi-conductors needed to build automobile engines and brakes that is expected for this summer at the earliest, industry sources said, who suggested other industries would likely take similar action. Honda Motor Co and other major carmakers have gradually restarted automobile production at dome...